


Strays

by msraven



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, puppy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-12
Updated: 2013-02-12
Packaged: 2017-11-29 00:51:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/680812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msraven/pseuds/msraven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Turns out that Junction is welcoming to all strays...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strays

**Author's Note:**

  * For [roguebowtie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/roguebowtie/gifts).



> A Valentine's Day gift for [roguebowtie](http://archiveofourown.org/users/roguebowtie/pseuds/roguebowtie) who asked for any incarnation of C/C with a stray puppy.
> 
> I hope you don't mind that I used Junction 'verse and not one from Yente.

Phil and Clint have been married seventeen days when Clint decides to test the “in sickness and in health” portion of their wedding vows.

The Avengers are in Queens fighting some sort of giant snake-man thing that can also, for reasons Clint has stopped trying to understand, shoot energy blasts from its fingertips. Nothing that they’ve throw at it so far - repulsors, lightning, explosive arrows, or Cap’s shield - has made a dent in any of the monster’s scales. Even the Hulk’s been thrown back several times and sent tumbling down thankfully empty streets. 

Clint doesn’t remember what makes him try a standard broadhead, but he lets it fly and watches in disbelief as it pierces one of the scales, causing the creature to rear back in pain. Tony zooms in immediately after, firing his repulsors futilely at the thing’s nose, and the monster swats at him like he’s nothing but a pesky fly.

“Uh...anyone else see that?” Clint asks over the comm.

“Affirmative, Hawkeye,” Phil responds. “Your arrow did pierce the scale, but unless you’ve got several thousand more in your quiver, I doubt they’ll do much lasting damage.”

The solution comes to Clint and he decides that it’s better to beg forgiveness than ask permission. “Hey guys,” he calls out. “Hang back a minute will you? I’ve got an idea.”

Clint has only been working with the Avengers for a few months, so it still surprises him when they acknowledge his request and fall back without question.

“Roger, that.”

“Gladly, my friend.”

“It’s about time someone had an idea.”

“Clint...” Natasha and Phil say in unison, both familiar with Clint’s particular brand of ideas.

Clint pretends not to hear them and lets loose a volley of arrows, each one precisely placed to annoy the creature. It lets out what sounds like a wail of frustration before turning toward Clint’s location on a nearby rooftop.

“Watch it Hawkeye,” Steve warns, “it’s got a bead on you.”

“Good, because I have one on it,” Clint replies. 

He fires two arrows in quick succession before turning to run without looking back at the creature. The arrows hit their mark - the first piercing through the thing’s forehead, followed closely by the second, explosive arrow - just as the creature raises its hand and fires an energy blast directly at Clint. He can hear the snake monster’s dying screams as he leaps off the rooftop and Clint is already in freefall before the roof explodes.

“Holy crap! Clint!” Tony yells over the comms and Clint can hear the distant whine of repulsors.

Clint is spinning with his grappling arrow in hand when he’s snagged out of the air by a very strong, and completely unyielding, arm. In his defense, Hulk is unused to catching someone not covered in armor or otherwise impervious to damage. Clint feels something snap in his arm and just keeps himself from dropping his bow. He grabs at it with his left hand and stifles a scream when their landing jars his injured arm. Clint takes a few deep breaths before turning to the Hulk with a tight smile - self preservation instincts telling him that he doesn’t want to see Hulk’s reaction to accidentally hurting a teammate. 

“Thanks for the save, big guy,” Clint says instead. It makes him feel a little silly, but he reaches up with his left arm and gives the Hulk a scritch on the side of neck. The big guy actually leans into it a little before grinning and bounding off in the direction of the now-dead snake monster.

Clint braces his arm against his chest, wishing he still had the older version of his quiver that came with a strap, and gets his bearings. He’s only a few blocks away from Phil and the mobile command vehicle, so he starts walking.

“Hawkeye, report,” Phil orders. Clint knows Phil must have seen the Hulk catch him because he’d heard the agent send Iron Man back toward the giant.

“Alive and on the ground, sir. Walking towards your position now,” Clint relays.

There’s a small click, signalling Phil’s switch to their private channel. “What’s wrong?” he asks.

“Arm’s definitely broken,” Clint answers, trying to keep the pain and fear out of his voice. While he now knows that his life isn’t fully dependent on his skill with a bow, broken arms and archers are still words that should not go together.

Phil meets him half-way down the second block and uses his belt to strap Clint’s arm to his chest. They get him back to HQ as fast as possible with Clint refusing pain meds up until the doctors say they’ll need to use a new, experimental procedure to ensure his full range of motion after the break. 

Clint and Phil end up spending New Year’s Eve cuddled together on a hospital bed and watching CNN’s coverage of the ball drop. Clint is still loopy on the sedatives from surgery, so it adds a level of hilarity to Anderson Cooper’s interaction with Kathy Griffin. Phil spends more time laughing at Clint than the television. Considering the events of the previous year, Clint thinks it’s definitely a step toward the positive.

~~~~~

Four days later, Clint wakes up suddenly from a deep sleep. He’s alone in the bed and it takes his brain a moment to catch up with his senses - Phil’s home. 

The surgery was a success, but Clint will still be in a cast for two weeks and need therapy for a few weeks after that. Phil had suggested it would be a good opportunity for them to go home, so Clint had flown out to Junction by himself with the promise that Phil would join him a few days later. 

Clint is about to put his head back down on the pillow when another, unfamiliar noise catches his attention. Intrigued, he slips on a pair of socks and the sweater Haley had given him for Christmas and pads down the stairs. His eyebrows go up in surprise when he sees the tracks of melted snow leading from the front door and toward the kitchen. Clint carefully avoids getting his socks wet and goes to investigate.

“Phil?” Clint asks from the doorway, causing his husband to stand suddenly and spin to face him. Phil’s face is a comical mix of surprise and guilt.

“Sorry,” Phil says quickly. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Before Clint can ask what’s wrong, a puppy comes bounding out from behind Phil’s legs and makes a beeline toward the archer. Clint makes a startled, pleased sound before crouching down to greet the small bundle of fur. He can’t help but laugh when the puppy licks his outstretched fingers and then runs in circles around him. 

“He’s getting the floor all wet,” Phil points out and the puppy, as if remembering he was there, runs back toward him with a little yip. 

Phil picks up the puppy and Clint walks over after snagging a kitchen towel off the counter. He drapes the towel over the squirming puppy before leaning over to give Phil a kiss hello. The puppy reaches over and licks Clint’s chin, causing the archer to leap back with another laugh.

“Hey, no,” Clint says to the puppy. “I’m happily married.”

Phil kneels down on the floor and proceeds to dry off the puppy while Clint starts rummaging around in the refrigerator.

“You’re being very genial about this whole thing,” Phil says as he struggles with the wiggly puppy who keeps trying to climb into his lap.

“What?” Clint asks, humming happily when he finds some leftover steak and gravy that Macie insisted he bring home the other night. “You bringing a wet puppy in from the cold? It’s adorable and besides,” Clint adds looking over his shoulder, “I’ve always known you had a weakness for strays.”

Phil blushes and ducks his head, pretending to concentrate on his task. He doesn’t speak again until Clint has already cut up the meat into small pieces and placed it on the floor for the puppy. 

“You were never _just_ a stray,” Phil says, caging Clint against the counter.

Clint hums contentedly as he wraps his arms around Phil. “If I remember correctly, I think we were both wet and cold when we first met.”

The puppy is properly distracted for enough time that they get in a proper kiss hello, but it’s soon jumping up and against their legs, barking excitedly. 

Phil frowns down at the little guy. “I didn’t bring you in to be a cockblock,” he says seriously and Clint can’t help laughing both at Phil’s use of the word and his face as he says it. 

“Come on,” Clint says, giving his husband a playful shove. “Let’s get her settled down for the night.”

They make a makeshift doggie bed out of pillows and old blankets tucked into the bathtub of the guest bathroom, neither of them trusting a small puppy to run around loose in the house. The puppy circles the pillow a few times before settling down with a snuffle. She’s asleep almost instantly. 

Phil and Clint watch her sleep for a moment before closing the door and heading to the master bedroom. 

“You know we can’t keep her,” Clint says as he watches Phil get ready for bed. “She looks part Husky, probably part wolf considering where you found her.”

“I know,” Phil says after he finishes brushing his teeth. He gets into the bed waits for Clint to settle against him with the cast laid across Phil’s chest. Phil ducks his chin to give Clint’s fingers a quick kiss before continuing. “I wasn’t intending to bring her to New York. I was hoping Jake and Macie would know of a rescue or someone willing to take in a stray.”

They take the puppy over to the Donaldson’s house the next morning and Clint isn’t surprised when it’s love at first sight. Haley squeals in delight when she sees the puppy and Brandon’s already thinking up names within minutes of getting his first lick across the cheek. Even Macie melts near-immediately, hugging the pup to her chest and nuzzling her nose into its fur. Phil only shrugs sheepishly and bites his lip to keep from grinning at Jake’s mock glare. They watch as Macie shoves the puppy into Jake’s arms and sees the instant Jake relents, eyes softening as the puppy tries to climb up onto his shoulder. 

Clint can’t help thinking that it’s not really about his family having a weakness for strays, but the strays being smart enough to let the right people love them back. 

_fin_

**Author's Note:**

> Woooo! The whirlwind of prompt fics continues. :) One more to go after this. Whew!


End file.
